Clarks Foreign Theological Library Vol 1

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Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781528277723
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (777 download)

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Download or read book Clark's Foreign Theological Library, Vol. 1 written by and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-09-17 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Clark's Foreign Theological Library, Vol. 1: The Life of Christ Wesss This work does not then come to you unexpected. You are aware that for more than twenty years I have occupied myself with the investigation of sources in the field of gospel history, that I have not avoided the most laborious labour as regards the details of the comparison of texts, and have tested in all directions the methods of criticism, which are often so intricate, until I forced my way to perfect clearness regarding the history and the character of our evangelical tradition. But the work of criticizing the sources cannot be an end in itself: its object must be found in the historical construction of the life of Jesus; and this alone can be the final test of the correctness of the results of criticism. Knowing me as you do, you have long been aware that I would ultimately begin a work of this character; indeed, it has hardly been work to me: rather a gladsome fashioning of the matured fruit of long years of study; an expression, satisfying an internal want, of something of which the heart is full Just because it is the outcome of a life entirely devoted to theology, ought it to be dedicated to you. Not in spite of your being a profane historian, but for that very reason, do I present you with this book. It is high time that even those who are not theologians should begin to make unbiassed investigations into the condition and historical pro duct of our evangelical tradition. For this, however, it is neces sary that they should listen to other voices than those which hitherto have alone sought for acceptance in wider circles as the advocates of an historical criticism in the field of the New Testament, and have proclaimed their views, often only those of individuals, as the results of the latest theological science. Into the book which deals with the sources I have interwoven so much of the history of the investigations on these sub jects, as to make it clear how unjustifiable such assumptions are. Even in the delineation of the life of Christ I was obliged to deny myself the pleasure of fashioning the results of my investigation of sources into a picture complete in itself, which carries its own justification in the fact of its being a unity and true to life. It has been necessary for me at every step to reckon with the various views which are the outcome of the differences in theological and critical fundamental assumptions; those I have illustrated here and there by the citation of well-known names. Tedious dis eussions of details I have tried to avoid, or have relegated them to the notes. It was no part of my plan to celebrate an easy victory over individual errors; I have tried rather to give the fairest possible representation of the views which were in sharpest contradiction to my own, and to refute them by means of the testimony of the sources. It was Open to me to do this in a freer form, and one accessible to every educated person, because I behaved that in my previous works on the Gospels I had given sufficiently, and in a severely scientific way, the basis on which rest my critical views. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.